


Double Dragons At the Beach

by Kiiratam



Series: Bees and the Beach [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: But he tries to be a Good Dad, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Tai is almost as oblivious as Ruby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 11:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20435186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Taiyang and Yang go out to the beach.Takes place during Volume 4, sometime between Chapters 4 and 9. (My BMBLB fic index)





	Double Dragons At the Beach

"Well, it certainly isn't Secret Beach, but it's not so bad." Taiyang looked over at his daughter. He hadn't thought he' d be able to get Yang away from the house. But sweet reason (and leaning on her for a week) had prevailed.

  
Signal hadn't started classes yet, so the beach next to the academy wasn't filled with kids. It was still a little early in the year for a beach trip. There were maybe a dozen other groups here, but spread out over a quarter mile of beach, that wasn't too bad. Above them, Signal's automated defenses bristled. Grimm attacks had only increased over the winter. Tai hoped that the arrival of spring would tamp down on everyone's tension. More sunlight, no snow to slow you down, fresh air. It was certainly helping him!

  
Yang, though... She'd finally put her new arm on. They were sparring, getting her back up to fighting fit. Even if she had picked up some bad habits that he needed to fix.

  
But she still wasn't, well, _Yang_. Not the daughter he remembered sending away to Beacon. Quieter. Easily startled. She still joked, but Tai could see that it was just a front.

  
And now, he could see the melancholy wash over her, making her hunch over like she'd just taken a gut punch. And he never knew why. He could usually guess, but right now? He'd just mentioned Secret Beach. They had lots of good memories there. How could _that_ hurt?

  
Nothing for it. Just move on. "Did you want to eat first, or go swimming?"

  
"Food first."

  
He nodded. "Yeah, wait for the sun to warm everything up. You want to pick a spot? You've got the blanket."

  
Yang looked around at the rest of the beach, the waves rolling in. "Here's good." She pulled the red-and-white-chequered blanket from her bag, started to spread it out.

  
Tai almost said something. What was the point of going out if you weren't going to go meet new people? Or at least _other_ people? But he clamped his mouth shut. She was out of the house. After the winter they'd had, nerves fraying, both of them worried about Ruby and JNR, and Beacon, and all of Vale... Keep moving forward, but don't unbalance yourself doing it. It wasn't like either of them had plans for the rest of the day. Plenty of time to wander over to one of the other groups of people. He set the picnic basket down, weighing down one corner of the blanket. Unlaced his boots and set them on another corner. Sat down, and started unpacking the picnic basket.

  
"Wish we still had that little grill. Did we ever figure out what happened to it?"

  
"Ruby took it apart for one of her prototypes."

  
"She what."

  
Yang looked at him. "After her first year at Signal? When everyone else had found a weapon style, and Ruby was still flailing around?"

  
"Yeeeeeeah, I remember that, I don't remember her taking apart the grill."

  
"It was for some weird flaming pitchfork... thing. I think she was out of ideas. I think it's still in the shed."

  
Shaking his head, Tai handed Yang a plate. "So glad Qrow came back and put an end to that. Who would have thought that Ruby would pick up the scythe?"

  
"I just wish I could get her to practice unarmed stuff. She's been ignoring it."

  
"When we see her again, sit on her until she does." Tai weighed his options. Ham or chicken? "You can't just ignore the fundamentals." Why not both?

  
Yang just started making her own sandwich. Ooookay? Conversation over, then? It wasn't mentioning Ruby. Was it just that Ruby had left? And that he'd mentioned that she was gone? Tai wasn't exactly _thrilled_ about the circumstances of her leaving, but no use pretending she hadn't. And really, she'd left a note. That was more than Qrow usually did.

  
It wasn't that he wasn't worried. Ruby and her friends, four half-trained students, out in the world? Tai knew what was out there, even if Oz had sworn him to secrecy about the worst of it. But there wasn't anything he could _do_. Tai had just parked that worry in the back of his mind, next to all the other ones, and left it alone. Poking it wouldn't do any good.

  
But Yang had always been bad about that. She wanted to _do_ something. Anything. And Tai got it. He'd been young once; he remembered what it had been like to feel invincible. He glanced at his daughter, the cold gray of her new arm. Maybe she'd start figuring it out now.

  
He hated that he'd thought that. 'Yeah, my daughter's been maimed by a maniac, but maybe she'll _learn_ something from it!' But he couldn't take the thought back. Couldn't go back in time and save his daughter from all the pain she'd suffered. He had to find a silver lining. Had to find a bright side, a point of hope.

  
Tai shoved it aside. Took a bite of his ham and chicken sandwich. Watched the waves roll in and let his mind drift to brighter shores.

* * *

"Yang?"

  
She looked up from her book.

  
"What're you reading? Must be good. I had to call your name three times."

  
"Just poetry."

  
Tai peered closer at the title. "_Romantic Verses of Sapphire FitzBattleaxe_?"

  
She put the book down, giving him annoyed teenager look #5. "Dad, really?"

  
"Wasn't that Blake's?"

  
Yeah, that was a sore spot. Tai watched a range of emotions battle across his daughter's face, too quick for him to pick them all out. Saw her close her eyes, focus on her breathing. Breathing in, holding it, breathing out. Opened her eyes. "It is." She stuffed the book back in her jacket, lying on the blanket next to her. "Are we going in the water?"

  
"Just waiting on you." Tai hauled his shirt off, pulled a towel out for when he got back.

  
Yang pulled her shirt and pants off. Tai looked around, making sure no one was eyeing his daughter. She had started wearing bikinis way too early for his comfort. And her friends at Signal hadn't exactly helped his peace of mind. He wasn't sure if she'd purposely hung out with the most hormone-addled ones, or if they'd just gravitated towards her.

  
Objectively, Tai knew that his daughter was beautiful. Not just 'daddy's little girl' beautiful, but actually beautiful. She looked so much like Raven, and Raven had broken hearts mercilessly while at Beacon. And Yang had Raven's wild beauty, but his coloration. So she looked less like a bloody-eyed death goddess. More approachable. Much more approachable, apparently.

  
He still wasn't sure if Yang had actually dated everyone in her friends group, or if they were all her friends because they wanted to date her. She'd certainly never brought anyone home for dinner, or introduced anyone as her boyfriend, or girlfriend, or whatever. But she also hadn't gone moon-eyed or mopey over someone. Her grades had never been less than excellent. And she hadn't gotten pregnant (though he conceded that was a spectacularly poor metric).

  
Still, Tai worried, because fatherhood demanded it. He took a final glance about, and followed her into the waves. Stopped about waist deep, practicing footwork in the push and pull of the ocean. Yang had gone deeper, swimming at the biggest waves. Tai shook his head. She'd been courting hits since she discovered her Semblance. Chasing that adrenaline rush. He tried not to blame her for it. She knew it didn't make her invincible. Maybe it would perk her up.

  
A crosswave hit him from the side, soaking him. Nearly knocked him over. That's what he got for cloud-gathering during a fight. Tai murmured to the ocean, "One free hit. That's all you get."

* * *

After an hour, Tai waved and caught Yang's attention. She rode a wave closer, into easy talking distance. "Yeah?"

  
"I'm headed in for bit. Going to dry off, catch some rays." He didn't want Yang to be out here by herself. Sure, there were other people in the water, but no one nearby. And no one was going out as far as Yang was, pushing the edge of Signal's overwatch.

  
Yang picked up on his unspoken request. "Okay. I'll come with you." They started wading towards the shore.

  
Internally, Tai sighed in relief. That was the nice thing about Yang. You didn't always have to say everything out loud for her to pick up on it. Ruby needed things explained, and Tai couldn't always do that. Either because he didn't want to, or because he just couldn't articulate it. He knew that Ruby had gotten that from him. He could read a fight, a book, but people? They were harder. He couldn't explain, if he was bad at it, and Ruby was bad at it, how Yang was so good at it. Unless she'd picked it up from Summer, in the few years they'd had.

  
He shook himself. No use dwelling on it. Glanced at his daughter. "Good swim?"

  
"Yeah. I forget how much I miss this."

  
"Not much chance to go swimming at Beacon?"

  
She shrugged. "There's a pool. It's not the same."

  
Tai nodded. "And it's a bit of a drive to Secret Beach."

  
There was that wince again. But she actually responded, instead of just clamming up. "I did get to go there last summer."

  
"Bet you and Ruby had fun. Still beautiful?"

  
"Yeah. But Ruby was busy."

  
"Oh." Bit far to go by yourself, even for a beach that nice. And it was safe. Ish. But not exactly a top priority for patrols. Tai looked over at Yang.

  
"I had company." She did the same breathing sequence she'd done earlier. "I took Blake."

  
Ah. That would explain why it hurt. "Your team mate?"

  
She nodded. "We went out there twice. First time, everyone else canceled on us. And we were sharing the beach with a wedding."

  
Tai winced. Secret Beach had been his and Summer's. Somewhere that was theirs, not STRQ's. Not Raven's. Hearing that other people were there... it hurt more than it should. "They make a mess?"

  
"Nope. Just a little loud."

  
He purposely dropped his shoulders a bit, tried to relax. No harm done. Tried to regain the thread of the conversation, knew that it was more important than his old aches. "What about the second time?"

  
She smiled. Just like she used to, sunrise over the ocean. "We were the only ones there. Like Secret Beach is meant to be."

  
"Just RWBY and JNPR?"

  
"I... only invited Blake."

  
Tai tried out a few questions in his head. 'Why did you do that?' 'What did you two do?' 'Did you have a nice time?' None of them seemed to work. How even was this supposed to work? Just ask if Yang's beach friend was her girlfriend? If her friend, her team mate that she'd sacrificed for, had just left her? Despite that? 'Do you have any regrets about inviting your girlfriend to a special place, when she ran away from you later? Stained all those special memories you thought you had together?' Tried to step back from his own pains, thought of a few more questions. 'When can I meet her?' 'What is she like?' 'Why did she leave?' This was pointless. They'd reached their blanket, started drying off.

  
"I still miss her, dad." Yang had her towel slung over her shoulders, looking down. "I try not to, but I still miss her."

  
Thoughts of Raven flooded his mind. "I know the feeling. I can't say it gets better." He shifted his feet, found his center, blew out a breath. "But you can get used to it."

  
"How?" His daughter looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading. She held out her new arm. "It's like this, but Atlas didn't send me a spare. It's just a big gap, and I don't know what I can do to fill it."

  
Silver eyes gleamed in his memories. "Keep going. Even though it hurts." Tai groped for words, couldn't find any that worked. Reached out to hold Yang's new hand between his.

  
She pulled him into a hug. A painfully tight one. "I love you, dad."

  
"I love you too." He felt his ribs creaking. "But if you squeeze me any harder, my head's going to pop off."

  
Yang laughed. Loosened her grip a little bit. But only a little bit.


End file.
